The Mad Tale of Dr Henry Madison
by Eliase Espynwislyn
Summary: The rise and fall of a mad scientist in Gotham City; the epic battle between a mad and an ordinary man; the Batman's broken straw; the Riddler's greatest puzzle; here you will find all these tales and so much more. Please, I beseech you, read onward.
1. Chapter 1

The following is a story adaptation of a role-playing game played between myself and my dear friend Alexander (aka HiQkid), in which I played as Dr. Henry Madison and he played as the curious characters of Gotham City. He has also proofread and edited this story. As such, he deserves partial credit as co-author and creator and of this story.

Disclaimer: I do not own Gotham City, the DC Universe, or any recognizable characters, places, or events. Dr. Henry Madison is an original character, who does not exist within DC Comics Continuity.

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Henry Madison trudged hurriedly through the heavy rain, as he did every day since he had first moved to Gotham City as part of the rebuilding effort. Anyone viewing him would surely have thought that he was the most ordinary-looking man imaginable, save for two things. Firstly, Henry's hair and clothing, particularly his tie, were always slightly askew, no matter how he adjusted them, as he did from time to time out of habit. Secondly, there was always a slight shimmer surrounding him that was not entirely natural; it was like the glow of twilight fell upon him and nowhere else. As usual, Henry walked, red-faced and sweaty. As usual, his arms were full of plans and papers that left a trail behind him. As usual, Henry was late. In fact, the only thing that set this day apart from every other for this sad, meek little man was the sound of three men walking closely behind him. Henry took little notice. If he had understood the tremendous effect that these three men would have on the course of his life, he might have. Henry Madison's life was about to become anything but usual.

"Riddle me this," said the suave, soft voice that Henry heard behind him, over the din of the falling rain, "What are you if I say no more?" Henry heard a sudden, very loud crack, and was acutely aware that a large metal object was crashing against his skull. The last thing he heard before he lost consciousness was a punchline. "You, Henry Madison, are clueless."

When Henry awoke, it was to find himself chained up to a wall by unique, golden, question-mark-shaped cuffs that seemed to tighten the more he resisted. Before him, as his vision cleared, he noticed the three figures that had been stalking him on his way to work. The two bigger men were, quite literally, faceless thugs, having no facial features to speak of. The central figure was a man in a green suit with a question mark motif and a golden, question-mark-tipped cane.

"Wh-what do you want with me? I'm just a normal guy," stammered the increasingly nervous Henry.

"Oh, what a fine little puzzle you are," was the Riddler's reply, "Yes, that's it. A puzzle; hardly a 'normal guy' at all."

After briefly attempting to stutter, Henry gave up and just hung there, sweating and staring at the two faceless thugs.

"Ah, I see you've noticed my two faithful bodyguards. They were a gift from an old friend."

"B-but..." Henry shivered.

"But what do I want with you? Well, I'm not usually in the business of *answering* questions, but I will give you this little clue. You aren't the one I want, Henry. Kill him."

The faceless thugs drew pistols. Things began to happen very quickly. Henry's eyes widened, but not in fear. He loosened his pull on the cuffs and pushed gently, releasing a latch that allowed him to slip his hands free with ease. He then shouted, in a voice not entirely his own, "Bob-o! Full power ahead!" In Madison's mind's eye, he saw a sprightly little child set out to work, but all the Riddler and his thugs saw was the faint shimmer surrounding Madison become a vivid glow and surge forward, knocking them off their feet.

"Dr. Madison. I'm glad *you've* finally decided to join us. Just the man I wanted to see. It's fascinating to see two men inhabiting the same body, but hardly unheard of, especially here in Gotham. And a self-projecting, sentient force field? Bravo." The Riddler smiled contently as he rose to his feet.

"What does the Riddler want with one such as I? I am brilliance incarnate! I am the wielder of powers beyond even science itself! I am Dr. MADison!" As Dr. Madison spoke, he held his flailing fingers at the sides of his head, where they twitched and convulsed.

"I know. I know many things, as you'll soon discover. You see, Dr. Madison..." The Riddler paused for a moment to take note of the fact that Dr. Madison was not even looking at him; he was too concerned with examining the faceless men, "...I've been watching you for quite some time. You like to build things. I was considering hiring you to create something for me."

"Fascinating. I wonder how they work. I can think of at least several ways it could be done... hmm..." Dr. Madison turned, as if hearing the Riddler now for the first time, "Oh, yes? What?"

"An empire. With your gifts, you could rule this city, Dr., and I wouldn't mind having you as a friend."

"Why? So you can use me as your puppet? Not interested, thanks. I could care less about ruling anything."

"Oh, no. My days of pulling strings and creating capers are long since over with. It's been a long time since those first, happy days of crime and madness. The rules have changed, my friend, and I'm not the only one thinking of entering retirement. The Batman is in shambles, the Joker has been MIA for quite some time. Don't even get me started on the likes of Bane and Two-Face. But, ah, no matter. Tell me, then, Doctor, respectfully, what it is you do want, if not to rule?" The Riddler's eyes narrowed as he thought a million, coded thoughts per second, "To play second fiddle to Henry for the rest of your days? To die unknown and unrecognized? To spend the rest of your days building houses and writing plans, when there's an undiscovered world of creation out there?

Dr. Madison's eyes darted towards the Riddler in anger, and then became centered again. "Of course! Perfect. I'll do it! But there's a catch."

"Yes?"

"What about the Batman?"

"What about the Batman? Who sits in his cave all day and does nothing but cry?" He smiled a liar's grin, "If anything, I'd expect more trouble from Commissioner Gordon, these days." There was a pause. "And, might I ask, what made you change your mind so suddenly?"  
"Just yet another brilliant idea from my unparalleled mind," Dr. Madison squealed and twitched with glee, "When do we begin?"

"What's the single greatest event in all of Gotham? Ah, of course, you wouldn't have heard of the big Gotham expo, as a newcomer to our fair city. Luthor's planning to dedicate the event to himself and all of his unmatched generosity in rebuilding Gotham. Find a way to use that, and I guarantee you'll be well on your way."

"I must begin at once! Goodbye and thank you, Riddler," called Dr. Madison faintly, as if from a distance. He then fell to the ground before the Riddler, and began to look around the room, utterly perplexed. His eyes narrowed.

"No! D-don't kill me, please," said Henry, clutching at his tie for dear life.

"Run along now Henry. The big boys are done talking. Go back to your little, insignificant life and remember; a good man is hard to find, a powerful man is hard to fine, and a good and powerful man doesn't exist. At least not for long," called the Riddler, as Henry stumbled away, trying to find his way out through the darkness of this strange place of winding halls and puzzled geometry. As Henry made his clumsy escape, the Riddler mumbled to himself, "Yes, quite a puzzle indeed. Oh, this will be fun."


	2. Chapter 2: Birth of Ray and a Bad boss

While Henry slept that night, Dr. Madison worked tirelessly, full of inhuman energy. Creativity is a fragile, beautiful thing, but it is also one of the most powerful forces in the universe. When it flows through the body of an artist, almost anything is possible. Dr. Madison, however, was not an artist. As he worked, boring design notes into the side of his overturned kitchen table with a knife and deconstructing his toaster and microwave ovens, a horrendous stain was being laid upon his fragile psyche. Dr. Madison was completely unaware of how long he worked, but he worked constantly and without rest or nourishment. He wasn't even certain what it was he was building, but he knew it was integral to his plans. Soon, his plans would come together, and Gotham would understand the full nature of his brilliance. Or so he thought.

To Dr. Madison, manic creative episodes were a way of life, with no beginning or end. Henry, however, could remember precisely the first time he had an episode like this. He could still smell the alcohol on his father's breath, if he thought back on it; the smell of it as his father told him they couldn't afford the violin lessons anymore, and it was a damn waste of time anyway. The smell of the words, "It's time to grow up. Start thinking about the future. Be responsible for once in your life. You think you're the only one who gets to do what he wants?" He had seethed in his room for so long, feeling utterly paralyzed. If only he were great and powerful, like the super villains that ran amok. Nobody told them what to do. His thoughts were interrupted by a soothing, high-pitched voice saying "Build me! Build me!"  
"Who are you?" said the young boy would would become Dr. Madison. "My name's Bob-o! Please build me! If you build me, we can play games and have fun forever. I'll protect you." Little Henry worked day and night to build his new little friend. When finally his work was done, a slight glimmer appeared and surrounded him-- a friend that would protect him forever.

That was all in the past; just a distracting memory of Henry's that danced before Dr. Madison's mind as he worked. When he awoke from the trance-like state of absurd creativity, Dr. Madison found Henry's apartment in shambles. A strange tube-like device with a dial, three switches, and a ragged, brown strap that looked like a dog had chewed on it was hanging off his arm. A crazed-looking, disheveled man with a hunched posture, a wild mane of hair, and ragged clothing was urging him to burn, burn, burn the world. "My name's Ray," the weird little man explained to Dr. Madison, "I can stun your enemies, levitate objects, induce a stealth field..." A burst of reddish light darted forward from Dr. Madison's fingertip, entirely of its own volition, "but mostly I just destroy, destroy, destroy!"  
"Excellent, Ray! With this new power, my plans shall come together faultlessly. You see, Ray, all we need to do is sneak into the Bat Cave, steal Batman's cape, and then... then the world shall bow before the might of my greatest creation yet!" He paused, "Henry! I require you."  
"M-me, Dr. Madison?" came Henry's voice from Dr. Madison's mouth, "I want no part in anything you're planning. I know what you're capable of. It's not good. It's not right."  
"You'll do what I tell you and like it!" Bob-o and Ray, despite being only hallucinations, still thought it was odd to see a man arguing with himself, the widening and narrowing of his eyes the most noticeable mark of the change in personality, "You're not going to be late for work today, Henry. Oh no. Today, you're going to be in bright and early." Dr. Madison laughed himself to sleep.

That morning, Henry did get into work bright and early. He walked with an uncertain gait, tripping over nearly every little object that crossed his path. He didn't know what Dr. Madison was planning, but he knew that, by nature, it would be simply unpredictable. The only clue was the ray gun, hidden in a duffel bag that Henry was forced to carry into work. "Go to Mr. Hay's office," said a voice in Henry's head. Never one to simply ignore the threatening whispers in his ears, Henry did as he was bid.  
As he approached the door, which always seemed somehow to dwarf Henry, despite being no larger than any other door, Henry recalled the other times he had approached Mr. Hay. "May I have a raise, Mr. Hay, sir?" he had humbly asked, and each time, Mr. Hay had replied, "Were you late for work today, Madison?" That was more than enough to get Henry to sulk away with his tail between his legs. This time, however, Henry dared to say, "E-excuse me, Mr. Hay, sir. May I please speak with you?" "Were you late for work today, Madison?" came the expected reply. From instinct, Henry tried to sulk away but found himself paralyzed. His arm, as if of it's own accord, reached into the duffel bag and flipped the switch and adjusted the dial. Henry then heard Dr. Madison say, with what he usually thought of as his mouth, "Let me rephrase, Mr. Hay." A blast of force emanated from Dr. Madison's fingertip as he point it forward, blasting the door open and off the hinges. "I'm speaking to you, Mr. Hay, so listen and listen well." Dr. Madison used his tractor beam to lift the smartly dressed but sweaty man who was Mr. Hay off of his fine, leather chair and into the air. As he spoke, he casually flung Mr. Hay about the room until he was bloody and the chair was in pieces. Although he knew it was wrong, Henry couldn't help but derive some small amount of pleasure from the thrashing that the doctor was giving his boss. "Help! Someone! Security!" screamed Mr. Hay.  
"No, no, no. There will be none of that. If you tell anyone about this, I'll kill you," Dr. Madison thought for a moment, enjoying the power afforded him by his new toy, "Now that I think about it, I may just end up killing you anyway."  
Mr. Hay was in shock. "Henry! How can you do this to me? I didn't know you, uh..."  
"Had a backbone? He doesn't. I, however, built myself a nice titanium one years ago," laughed Dr. Madison, enjoying his own humor, "This is what is about to happen, Mr. Hay. You're going to give me the full, complete architectural outline of all of Gotham City. You're going to do this without question. You're not going to expect Henry in to work for quite some time, but that's okay since, luckily for me, you're going to be bumping up his salary quite a bit. And lastly, don't you ever confuse me with Henry again or you'll find yourself at the wrong end of a death ray, 'sir.'"  
Mr. Hay was uncharacteristically compliant at that point.

Many hours afterward, late into the night in his dingy little apartment, Henry poured over the plans to Gotham City well into the morning. In Henry's imagination, Ray was burning holes into the wall trying to disintegrate flies, and Bob-o was eagerly sitting by a checkerboard, waiting for the distracted and sleep-deprived Henry to make his next move.  
"Why is Dr. Maddy makin' you look over these plans for him?" asked Bob-o with a yawn.  
"Well, Bob-o..." said Henry drowsily, "He wants me to isolate, based on structural soundness and spacial concerns, the most likely place where someone would be able to convincingly hide a massive, underground lair of some sort. Your guess is as good as mine as to why precisely he wants me to find this for him, though. No doubt it has something to do with his new pal, the Riddler."  
"Oh yeah, Henrykins, I get that," replied Bob-o, "But, I mean, why does he want you to do it? Isn't Dr. Whatever supposed to be this incredible genius at, like, everything."  
"Well, yes..." Henry thought for a moment, "No. Not everything, exactly. He can't read architectural drawings. He can't carry a tune. In fact, he can barely read anything that's not immediately related to his next big invention. Basically, he's terrible at everything I've ever studied in my life."  
"Carry a tune?" Bob-o's hallucinated eyes lit up, "You mean, you can play music? Yay! Play something for me! Play, play, play!"  
"Well, um, no. I can't. I mean I used to. But that was a long time ago. When I was little. Yeah."  
"Oh, too bad." With that, Bob-o went back to idly moving pieces on the checkerboard, wishing he had a buddy to play with who was less distracted and stressed out. Unfortunately for Henry, the stress was only just beginning.  
Just as Henry was exceedingly relieved to finally get to sleep, having not slept properly in some days, Dr. Madison jostled to life. "Excellent!" proclaimed Dr. Madison to no one in particular, not even the voices in his head, "There are only four possible locations where the batcave could reasonably be hidden and only one of them is an actual cave. Hmm... the caves outside of Wayne Manor. Of course! My plans are coming together exceedingly nicely!"  
Turning the switch of his ray gun to stealth mode, Dr. Madison stalked out into the night, unsuspecting of the dangers that lay in store for him. 


End file.
